


Cold Creamer

by TeamSeaSlug



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gilbert is gay, M/M, Oz is a little gross, Vincent unintentionally helps, everyone has a good time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 17:44:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13769256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamSeaSlug/pseuds/TeamSeaSlug
Summary: The coffee shop AU.





	Cold Creamer

**Author's Note:**

> my boyfriend works at a Starbucks so I felt fairly comfortable making a coffee shop AU despite never working there myself.

Pandora Cafe was a relatively nice place, nestled cozily in between a small college town and the main area of the city, thus making it relatively popular with people from both the college and the professional sides. Plus, they had slightly lower prices than the main chain coffee places around, and were closer to the college students, so it was a win-win for business. The pay also wasn't awful; tips could be good sometimes, especially from the regulars. Ultimately, it wasn't the worst temporary side job Gilbert could have while he was finishing up his classes, as he knew he would be graduating college fairly soon but felt uncomfortable not having income flowing in. It wasn't far from campus, it wasn't far from home, and it dealt with something he loved.

Coffee was wonderful. It smelled wonderful, it tasted strong, you could make it with ease, and the caffeine rush did good for Gilbert in the mornings. He tried not to be too snobby when it came to the drink, knowing well that everyone was entitled to their preferences, but he was all about the black coffee life and he probably would always be. It didn't need much of anything to be delicious. And by black coffee, Gilbert would be referring to _no sugar, no cream_ coffee; heathens like his coworker, Break, would sometimes comment that "it can have sugar in it and still be black". This was wrong. He knew Break was just doing it to ruffle some feathers, and he would confess that it did work every time Break said it that it upset him... but it was simply wrong. At least Break didn't do that when people _ordered_ black coffee.

Except no one ever ordered black coffee. Chain cafes had spoiled most people with the idea of coffee shops having sweet, fruity drinks that had nothing to do with coffee at all. This also bothered Gilbert a lot- they had tea options, and of course some sweeter and lighter choices for people who didn't want such a strong taste, but this was a coffee shop. It sold coffee, like it was supposed to. College freshmen coming in and asking for "frappucinos" in a variety of different ways (what did unicorns have to do with coffee?) were sorely disappointed to discover that Pandora did not carry what the chain places had in that aspect. And on one hand, Gilbert was glad. He knew it wasn't the best thing in the world for business, but he'd rather be bitter and not have anything to do with those drinks.

Yes, he loved his job, even if he didn't always love the customers.

\---

"Can I have a glass of wine?"

"Vince. For the last time, this is a coffee place."

"Oh, I'm sorry. A _venti_ glass of wine?"

Gilbert ground his teeth together to keep himself from barking at his younger brother who was, no doubt, just trying to be a bit of a pest. Thankfully it wasn't rush hour, or this would be much more of an issue; there were only a few people in the shop, eating and drinking to their hearts content. One of them was Sharon Rainsworth, who was a wonderful regular and a good friend of two of his coworkers, Reim and Break. She always ordered her usual: a seasonal hot tea and a vanilla or strawberry scone, depending on the day. She always ate so daintily that her table almost never had any crumbs, and she tipped well, so Gilbert was rather fond of her.

His brother, however, always left his table a damned mess and held up the line (if there was one) because he took forever to order.

Vincent looked sleepy. Well, he always looked sleepy, but he looked positively fatigued. He had his palms face down on the counter and was holding himself up that way, his head lolling to the side slightly with that typical lazy smile on his face. Gilbert was envious; Vincent had got all of the good genes. Even dead tired his hair was fluffy and effortlessly pretty, the small amount of makeup he wore looked natural (even if it had probably been applied the day before), and his outfit was ironed and crisp looking... which was bullshit because Vincent had never touched an iron in his damn life, _how dare he?!_

It made Gilbert a little jealous. Vincent was the effortlessly pretty androgynous one, Gilbert was the one with messy, inky black hair and lines under his eyes from being tired. He was pretty sure, whoever their parents were, just gave all of their good physical genes to the younger brother and left Gilbert with tangles, an affinity for black, and strong hands that were constantly crushing the Styrofoam cups at work on accident.

"You look tired," Gilbert said, minding his manners and language because even though this was his brother, he was still at work. Reim wasn't an awful coworker in any way, shape, or form, but he would definitely take notice if he started bad-mouthing a customer, as Reim was the other person behind the counter with him. "Do you want something to wake you up?"

"Yes, please. My usual?"

"We don't keep track of usuals here, it's against policy." Despite saying this, Gilbert was already punching in the order. He knew what Vincent wanted, even if Vincent himself forgot the details. Vanilla cappuccino, extra foam, cinnamon on top but not in the drink; nothing complicated, and no reason Vincent couldn't learn his own drink. Gilbert told him the cost but Vincent already had his money out, paying for it with no hassle.

"I'll get on that, then," Gilbert said, stepping out of the way to get to work on said drink for his brother. Vincent, pleased, coo'd a lazy "Thank you" and blew a kiss before grabbing a seat somewhere where he wasn't in the light coming from a window, or below a lamp.

While working on the drink, Break, who had been skipping out on doing any actual work in favor of sitting with Sharon and talking, returned behind the bar... only to slip into the back to do some "social media work", which mainly involved stalking people on Facebook and occasionally tweeting mildly unsettling tweets that were fairly popular with the college kids. Reim and him were the only ones who were actually _working_ , so thankfully they weren't all that busy.

\---

 

"Break, get your _ass_ out here and work, because we're packed!" Gilbert had to find that perfect volume in between screaming at the top of his lungs and quiet enough that no one in the other room could possibly hear him. He was, in no way, anyone's boss here, but neither was Break.

Break smacked his gum, not even raising his eye to look up at him, still scrolling on his phone. It looked like he was on Reddit. "I'm taking my thirty," he said finally, casually, as if they were talking about something completely normal and Gilbert hadn't just tried kicking down the door.

"You've been taking your thirty for two hours, get off your ass." Gilbert snarled, before stomping out to go back to the front of the shop. Reim was impressive as always; while working on both drinks and taking orders, he was managing to keep the line under control, which wasn't an easy task. The girl in the front, definitely from the college, looked just as flustered as Reim probably felt giving her order. Honestly, though, Gilbert was definitely lucky to have a coworker and friend as competent as that guy, because it made up for Xerxes.

After Reim took the order, Break eventually wormed his way out of the back to manage the food and keep it stocked and help with drinks. Gilbert told Reim that he could work on taking the orders for the time being so the two could be on drinks (though Break would sometimes leave to bring the drinks to the tables for people who were staying in), which Reim was clearly thankful for. And with some effort, the three of them managed to get things organized enough to get the crowd flowing in and out of Pandora, and to not keep the line going for too long. Most people didn't tip, but some people did, which was greatly appreciated, especially when things got busy and there were only three people running the whole operation. Gilbert paid a lot of attention to those who did tip.

And eventually, things calmed down, at least a little bit. There wasn't a line anymore, but it was still crowded, most people sitting down and eating baked goods or taking pictures of their drinks for their Instagram followers. Gilbert wanted a cup of coffee himself, and as he thought about asking Reim if he could get a black coffee, an angel walked through the door.

Well, _an angel_ was being very over-dramatic. But it was definitely the prettiest man Gilbert had ever seen in his life. Small, a good deal smaller than him, with golden hair and skin that looked _so, so soft,_ even at a distance, with a face so cute it was unfair. Did he know? Did this guy know that he was probably the cutest thing Gilbert had ever seen?

Gilbert made himself stop staring and stop thinking like he was in some damn Nicholas Sparks novel or something. All he really knew was that he'd never seen this person before, but judging by his apparent age he looked like he was a college student. Maybe a transfer? The golden haired beauty was kneeling by the pastries, lips pursed in contemplation while he was thinking of what to order. And Gilbert realized _oh God, I'm going to have to take his order._

He looked over at the drinks station. Reim was about to go on his thirty minute break, which he one hundred percent deserved after the hard work he put in. So it would just be him and Break...

"Hi! Are, uh, you guys still taking orders?"

"Huh?" Gilbert asked dumbly, whirling back around. He had been staring at the drinks station in thought and didn't even notice that the blond was ready to order, hands on the counter and staring up at him with big, expectant eyes. "Uh- yeah-," Gilbert stammered, feeling like a dumbass. His eyes were _unfairly pretty_ emerald green and Gilbert felt like he was dying. "-Yeah. What would you like?"

"Cool. Can I get a cheesecake? And one of those strawberry scones?" he ordered this, but then glanced back at the bakery selection, and then added in, " Ah, and that blueberry muffin looks good. One of those, too?"

Gilbert began punching those in, almost furrowing his brow at the order. It was like Break, minus the tea with a million packets of sugar, plus honey. Too sweet. Thankfully all of their baked goods were actually quite tasty, made in house, and Gilbert personally had no problem with any of them. "Anything to drink?" he eventually asked, looking back up at the other. He was so small, he had to tilt his head down to look at him properly.

"Yeah, just, whatever you choose."

"Huh?" Gilbert asked, dumbly, again. It was very unprofessional and he knew that Break noticed this and was having a good giggle over it. But the customer was looking almost flustered for asking, or flustered by Gilbert's confusion, he couldn't tell, which caused Gilbert's own face to feel hot. He tried not to be an oaf for more than five seconds and ask for clarification, but luckily the customer offered it on his own.

"Yeah, just-" he waved a hand, clearly trying to get what he wanted out and not finding the perfect words for it. "-whatever you recommend. I don't really know. So you can pick one for me."

Gilbert stared incredulously, unsure of what to make of this whole situation. Was that even allowed? Could he do that, according to their policy? Reim was off somewhere, taking his thirty minutes, and Break probably would tell him something wrong just for a good laugh and to see Gilbert flounder. And, in his own way, Gilbert didn't want to tell this person "no"... even if it was lame to say it was simply because they were pretty, he wanted to make some sort of impression. Even if the impression was literally just picking a coffee they liked.

He drank black coffee. He _loved_ black coffee. People were allowed to have their own tastes, but it was the superior coffee...

"I think you'd like a vanilla cappuccino, extra foam, with maybe some cinnamon on top?" His brain made him blurt this out suddenly, not even properly on his own accord. It startled Gilbert, to say something like that so bluntly, so unplanned, but the customer was nodding his head like that was the best suggestion he could have possibly given.

"Sounds good. How much do I owe you?"

The rest of the transaction went totally smooth. The customer had perfect change, Gilbert's body went on muscle memory punching in Vincent's usual order. He grabbed the pastries the customer had ordered, and then without really thinking went to go make the drink himself. He didn't realize that this was odd until Break gave him a look. Embarrassed, Gilbert stuttered out an excuse, but his coworker just brushed him off, going to man the register without any sort of fight.

Odd, but Gilbert accepted it. He expected to get roasted or something.

_Heh, roasted. Coffee._

Putting a good amount of attention on his stupid, clumsy, man-hands not crushing the foam cup he was making the drink in, Gilbert was able to make a pretty ideal looking cappuccino. He didn't do any of that latte-art stuff, but at the moment he genuinely wished he knew how to do some, so he could play it off as if he did this all the time. But he managed to keep things neat and the cinnamon was in a perfect little circle on top of the foam. So that was working out for him.

And without any warning, he decided to run the order to the customer, because of _course_ he did. Break noticed but again, didn't say anything to him. And Gilbert wasn't clumsy, he wasn't awkward bringing the order, he was just able to bring it to the customer without any mess up whatsoever. And the customer was sitting alone, tapping at his phone, and when Gilbert arrived with his order he grinned and Gilbert almost did make a horrible fuck-up then and drop everything, but managed to save himself and put everything down in front of him.

As he was running the order back to make sure he didn't mess anything up, the blond immediately took the cappuccino into his hands and drank it, not even bothering to confirm that this was exactly his order (but it was, Gilbert knew it was, he knew exactly what he was doing). Gilbert waited, barely breathing as he watched for some response, as the blond sipped at the cappuccino without even blowing on it to get rid of some of the heat. But he didn't wince, didn't cringe, his face didn't even scrunch up; he just put the cup down after a bit and smiled wide. There was a tiny bit of foam on his nose and it made Gilbert's heart feel restricted.

"It's great! Thanks," he chirped, clearly happy as a clam with the order. With Gilbert's choice. He was struggling to remember how to breathe normally again. "now I know what to get whenever I try ordering coffee."

"Do you not normally get coffee?" Gilbert managed to ask, drumming up small talk, which he wasn't really supposed to do. Sometimes they did it with the regulars, like Sharon or her grandmother, but having some form of conversation with one-timers wasn't usually what went down. But Gilbert didn't _want_ him to be a one-timer, so he tried conversing, as if that would be the deciding factor to possibly come back.

"Nope. I want to, though. Figured the caffeine would help me with school," he said, confirming Gilbert's earlier suspicion that he was college-aged. "so I wanted to get into it. The issue is every coffee I tried was the _worst_. Tasted nothing like it smelled, bitter, makes me wanna gag."

"It's an acquired taste--" Gilbert mumbled, as if trying to defend his preferred drink of choice. This didn't stop the blond male from continuing, though, and he was pretty pleased with that, because he did want to hear what he had to say.

"So I was on campus and they have a machine there, for coffee, right? It's not high-end or anything but it's a caffeine fix. And I found one that I really, really liked. It was really creamy and sweet. So I would have it, even though it really didn't give me a caffeine buzz at all."

Here, the customer started looking a little flustered with himself, taking a bite of his cheesecake as if it would save him from this conversation. And normally Gilbert would allow him to have his solace here, but he was intrigued, he was very curious. "What type of coffee was it, do you know?" he asked gently.

The blond finished chewing and then continued, his cheeks a tiny bit pink. Gilbert couldn't stop staring. "Well, I kept drinking it maybe twice a day. I thought it was a little weird, but I liked it. So, I went to a study group with some friends, and they caught me drinking it, and told me--"

"Oh no," Gilbert mumbled, already having some form of an idea of where this was going.

"--that it was creamer. Just creamer. It was labeled as Vanilla on the machine, and then everything made _sense_ , like why it was so sweet and why it didn't give me a buzz..." and there he put an elbow on the table and his rosy cheek in his hand, smiling despite his clear embarrassment of his tale, and Gilbert couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"Don't laugh!"

"Didn't you notice it was creamer when it was _cold_?"

"Well, like, I know iced coffee is a thing..."

All this did was make Gilbert laugh even harder, eyes threatening to water up with tears because that was the _best_ thing he had heard in a while. The customer took it well, though, giggling at his laughter in good spirit. "So-- So I just figured I'd ask a professional. Someone who works with coffee to just point me in the right direction."

He paused then, taking another drink of his cappuccino. "I'm glad I did, too," he added when he was done. He still had the foam on his nose. "because this is good. Now I know what to drink when I need coffee. So, thanks."

"No problem," Gilbert managed to get out while stifling his laughter, little chuckles bubbling up to the surface but nothing more. "Glad I could help. Enjoy your coffee."

"Ah! Wait!" the blond stopped him, grabbing a napkin and then a pen from his own pocket, scribbling something down hastily. Gilbert stopped in his tracks of going back to the station, waiting patiently for him to finish. "Just in case, like, I have questions about coffee or something. Or you have some pointers you could give me, I'd appreciate some guidance."

He then passed him the napkin. Scribbled with very practiced font, in blue ink, was a phone number, and a name. "Oz?" he repeated as he read it, looking back at the now named customer. Oz nodded in confirmation. Oz. He had never met a person named Oz before. He knew a regular named Oswald, who was a fairly neat businessman, but nowhere near as captivating as this one.

"I'm Gilbert. I'll be sure to text you to remind you to not drink coffee creamer," Gilbert teased. Oz squawked, but he clearly took the joke good-naturedly. "though I should probably get back to work." As much as he would love to keep talking to Oz (and that was _very much so_ ), he could see out of the corner of his eye a line beginning to form again, and Break working the stations alone. Oz nodded in understanding, before grinning wide.

"Will you be here same time, same day, next week?"

"Huh?" For the third time, Gilbert asked dumbly. He nodded mutely, not trusting his vocal chords after being caught off guard like that. Oz accepted that with a thumbs up and another bite of cheesecake as Gilbert reluctantly returned to his job, to his responsibilities.

He managed to help Break control the flood of people again until Reim came off of his break and they were all able to do even amounts of jobs. When Oz left, Gilbert said goodbye, making sure to keep the napkin with the number on him and text him when he could get away from his coworkers prying eyes (well, Break's eye, looking at him suspiciously). He kept an eye on the clock, watching until the end of his shift, watching until he could go and text Oz, speak to him again. And next week, next week he could even see him again. He made sure to watch the time, hoping his shift would come to an end finally.

He hadn't even noticed that Oz left him a hefty tip.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually don't even drink coffee lol I'm a tea person


End file.
